Transformers: Cybertron DX
by Chaos Death Saurer
Summary: Mudflap plots as Vector Prime leads the Autobots to the Temple of Primus, where they will gain their Cyber Key Powers. Will it make a difference? R
1. The Fall of Earth 1

Transformers: Cybertron DX

Episode 1: Turning the Tide part 1

_My name is Hot Shot. I am an Autobot warrior, and I have seen many battles. My people are called Transformers, and we have been fighting amongst ourselves for ages beyond remembrance. There are two factions: Autobots and Decepticons. These two factions have fought each other in many wars._

_The first major war I remember is the Second Minicon War. We had sent the tiny Transformers known as Minicons into the depths of space long before, until three humans reactivated them, and brought our war to Earth. We fought the Decepticons long and hard, even losing our leader, Optimus Prime, but the miracles of both the Minicons and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership brought him back. Not long after, the Minicons tried to prepare us for the coming of a great evil: Unicron, the Dark God. After a terrible battle, Unicron was defeated, thanks to the sacrifice of Megatron._

_Ten years later, the conflict known as the Energon War began. Megatron was reborn from the ruins of Unicron, and became known as Galvatron. Unicron also activated another proxy: Alpha Q. The two fought us to collect enough Energon to reactivate Unicron, and they were eventually successful. Optimus Prime, reformatted by the Matrix into a form that seemed as powerful as Primus himself, stopped the Dark God, but a greater evil was born from the ashes._

_Megatron was reborn. His powers rivaled, perhaps even surpassed Unicron's, and his lust for power seemed to grow with it. He and one of Alpha Q's last living creations, Ravage, laid waste to our forces. In the final battle, we destroyed Ravage. At the same time, Optimus Prime and Megatron brought their battle to a close, as they terminated each other and nearly destroyed the planet they dueled on. _

_Almost immediately, Starscream, reborn by Alpha Q some time before, and Shockwave, a Decepticon prisoner, took leadership of the Decepticons. Starscream betrayed Shockwave, killing him, and proclaimed himself King of the Decepticons._

_Since then, we had been fighting a losing battle. We were driven off of Cybertron and every other Autobot-held world, until only Earth remained. We had to survive, because, if we didn't, the universe would have been destroyed…_

"Where did they get to?" Jetfire wondered. His maroon armor managed to hide most of his scratches, but the white parts showed the years of abuse they had taken. Most of his right shoulder was missing, the Autobots no longer having the resources to repair such wounds. Even miracle worker Red Alert couldn't do anything for him, except for patching it up.

Wingsaber flew down from the starscape and transformed next to Jetfire. Like Jetfire, Wingsaber's armor showed its wounds. His red, white, and blue body was burned, scratched, and pitted. Even one of his optics had gone out. "No trace of them, sir. I don't see how an entire fleet could have disappeared like that."

Jetfire sighed, then looked downward at Earth. The Energon shield held up to the first bombardment, but there wasn't enough energy to fire back. That's where the Autobots like Jetfire and Wingsaber had come in, dogfighting with the faster, pristine Decepticon space warriors.

_They didn't stay pristine for long._ Jetfire thought. He, Wingsaber, and a handful of others had managed to send dozens of enemies streaking toward the Energon grid, with minimal casualties on their side, and like reports from across the globe. Jetfire was pleased by the results, but couldn't help but wonder why the Decepticon fleet had pulled back to Mars. He opened his comm. "Hot Shot, you there? The Decepticons retreated in your direction. Did they pass by yet?"

Hot Shot scanned the encampment in the valley below. Bunkers had been set up, and Decepticons were milling about, carrying munitions, energon supplements, or just plain wandering around. Mudflap's building was obvious, being the grandest structure there.

_And it just happens to be the best guarded building here._ Hot Shot thought. His comm. crackled to life. "Hot Shot, you there? The Decepticons retreated in your direction. Did they pass by yet?" Jetfire's voice punched through the static.

Hot Shot crawled back from his hiding spot to the small rock outcropping the Autobots were using as a recon base. "Not that I know of. Though they have set up a base in the valley. We're scouting them out now."

"I copy. What's their force deployment?"

"Mudflap's here, and he's got enough housing for a few thousand troops. The rest must be with the fleet." Hot Shot said. His partner, Inferno, went up to Hot Shot's prior position.

"Speaking of which, there's a disturbance down at the camp, Hot Shot. Take a look." Inferno called to Hot Shot.

Hot Shot crawled over to the overlook and noticed something happening in Mudflap's tent. Inferno reached over and activated the Audio Enhancers to listen in.

Down in the camp, Mudflap's guards shifted uneasily. Thundercracker and Chromia had entered moments earlier, and there had been heated discussion for a few minutes now. A few things had crashed recently, and it was getting worrisome.

In a flash, Mudflap few out of the front door, tearing it from its hinges and skidding to the ground. The guards suppressed laughter; most of Mudflap's soldiers liked the idea of anything that could put the blue mech on his skidplate. Chromia was the first to emerge, fuming. Her yellow optics had brightened considerably, actually casting slight shadows on her silver face. She stormed over to Mudflap and planted her purple, high-heeled foot on his chest, pinning him.

Thundercracker emerged next, smiling slightly, gun arm slung on his shoulder. "Well, I guess you'll think twice before making them comments, won'tcha?" he said in his southern accent.

"He'd better, if he knows what's good for him." Chromia added threateningly. She pushed her foot further into Mudflap's chest for emphasis.

"Don't deny the truth! Your reaction just confirmed it!" Mudflap shouted in his French accent.

Chromia removed her foot from Mudflap. "You can check with Starscream when he gets here," she hissed.

Mudflap's face fell as he got up. "Starscream's coming here?"

Chromia looked up at Mudflap, as she was a full head shorter than Mudflap. She smiled, optics dimming to normal. "That's right. He's coming here to oversee the final battle."

Thundercracker nodded. "Yep. He ain't pleased with your tactics. Thinks you "toy with your prey" too much. That might be why I'm second-in-command, and you ain't."

Mudflap stalked over to Thundercracker and stared down at the smaller mech. "It wouldn't be hard to take that position from you," he snarled. A shadow fell over the camp as a dagger-shaped Decepticon capital ship flew overhead. Only Chromia noticed.

"Speak of the devil. You two," She turned toward Thundercracker and Mudflap. "Maybe you can put aside your arguments long enough to give our leader the greeting he deserves?"

"I know you will later," Mudflap muttered. Chromia kicked him again.

The trio marched over to the landing pad as the cruiser set down. Guards had already assembled at the landing ramp, three rows deep, facing each other. Others were assembled in rows, facing the ship. Chromia and Mudflap flanked Thundercracker as they marched toward the descending ramp.

The ramp touched ground, and four pairs of guards marched down the ramp, followed closely by Starscream himself. The red and white mech stalked down the ramp, armor and crown glinting in the sunlight. Chromia and Mudflap knelt, only Thundercracker stood saluting.

"Greetings, Thundercracker. I trust Mudflap took the news well?" Starscream asked, continuing on.

Thundercracker walked with him, Chromia and Mudflap trailing. "As well as can be expected from 'im. I explained why, and he understood." He explained.

Mudflap grumbled, Chromia glared at him, and neither of the Seekers in front of them took notice.

"Good." Starscream stopped at the edge of the pad and turned to face Mudflap. "Get your troops ready to mobilize. We will be leaving in one hour. Thundercracker, get back to the fleet. Prepare to move. We leave when Mudflap is finished. Move out."

The two mechs saluted and moved off to their assigned tasks. Starscream looked out to a distant ridge.

Hot Shot immediately activated his comm. "Jetfire, this is Hot Shot. Something big is going down here. Starscream just arrived, and all the generals hare here. Starscream must be here to personally oversee this battle. Get ready to-"

"Get down!" Inferno shouted, before the rocks around the two mechs exploded.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we got here. Autorats in the rocks. Must be spyin' on us." Thundercracker said, his gray SU-27 Flanker jet mode. He launched another brace of four missiles at the Autobots.

Hot Shot pulled free his rifle and returned fire. "Get back to the transport! I'll draw his fire!" he shouted over the gunfire.

"Got it!" Inferno transformed into his battered firetruck vehicle mode and sped off for the Autobot prowler.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Thundercracker yelled, and dove after Inferno.

"And I _really_ don't think so!" Hot Shot returned, jumping up and grabbing on to Thundercracker's wing.

"Get off me!" Thundercracker entered a series of barrel rolls, trying to shake Hot Shot off. When the yellow Autobot did fall off, Thundercracker's cockpit shattered.

Hot Shot recovered in time to see Thundercracker crash to the ground. The Autobot sports car sped off towards the prowler.

"Nice shot." Hot Shot complimented.

"Thanks." Inferno replied, particle beam wrist rifle still smoking.

The two entered the transport and sped away from Mars, hoping they got to Earth before the Decepticons did.

"All right, all your systems are nominal. At least, as nominal as they can be with this lack of resources." Red Alert said, closing his medical scanner.

"Thanks, Brit." Hot Shot said, hopping down from the table.

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"Not my fault you picked a British accent." Hot Shot shrugged.

Red Alert sighed and scanned Inferno. "Same with you. All systems as good as they're going to get." He rubbed his red visor, weary. He'd been weary since the Autobots were forced off of Cybertron.

Inferno hopped down from the table. "Thanks, Red. You're the glue that keeps this team together."

Red Alert chuckled. "Glue is probably the only thing holding this team together." He looked at his chest, which was once the front end of his ambulance mode. It had been years since he could properly transform, as replacement transformation cogs were always in short supply. His headlights were destroyed, and the doors which went over his shoulders were completely missing. The part that formed the roof of his ambulance mode had been removed, due to a rare case of cosmic rust after an injury.

Inferno had sustained lighter damage by comparison. Most of his driver's compartment had been destroyed in battle, and the halves of his blue battle mask had been blown off. The rest of his red armor merely bore scratches and burns.

Hot Shot once had a good-looking car mode, a type of Aston Martin. Since the war began, the once-pristine yellow finish held scratches and dents. One of his doors, which hung over his shoulders in robot mode, had been ripped off. His windshields were missing, evidenced by his shins where the windshield went in robot mode.

Red Alert wondered about some of these upgrades before the Energon War. Most of the bots just looked fat, especially Optimus before his reformatting. Hot Shot's arms, though they were both shades of gray, his arms looked tiny compared to the rest of his body. Jetfire's head also looked small compared to the rest of his bulky maroon frame. Inferno was probably the only well-proportioned bot around. Red Alert himself had declined the upgrades, having seen some of the results. He didn't want to get started on Wingsaber.

As if on cue, the red, white, and blue mech entered the room. "Red, my optic fell out again." The mech held out the sky-blue optic. A trickle of Energon ran down his cracked golden mouthplate. His broad torso and slightly skinny arms held most of the red and white, his absurdly thick legs held most of the blue.

Red Alert sighed again and took the optic from Wingsaber's black hand. "Sometimes I envy the Decepticons. They actually have the resources to repair their men fully." Red turned, fiddled with the optic, then gave it back to Wingsaber. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Red. But you shouldn't say things like that. Most Autobots would sooner die than join the Decepticons. I know I'm one of them." Wingsaber said, taking the optic and replacing it.

"Wing, when we got into this pit, I knew it was only a matter of time before we lost. I've been doing everything I could to keep our people alive, but the Decepticons have won this war. This last battle is only a formality." Red Alert replied.

"I for one, will not. As long as my spark burns, I will not surrender to the Decepticons! Not now, not ever!" Wingsaber declared.

"I heard that, Wing." Inferno chimed in. "C'mon, Red. As long as there is one loyal Autobot living, the Autobots will live. We can't give up hope yet. In fact, I have the feeling that the tide of this war will turn soon."

Starscream stood on the deck of his ship. He preferred it to the claustrophobic interiors of his vessels. He knew that others had issues with extra armor and other parts that were used in their alternate modes, but Starscream counted himself lucky that his reformatting left him with a relatively small wingspan. In fact, his proper wings were incredibly small. The majority of his wingspan was taken up by his rather large null ray cannons. They were predominantly white, with a red slice at the bottom, continuing at the same angle as it did on his stubby wings. The red on his wings was on the top part, white on the bottom, black trim at the edges. They could have been smaller, but Starscream discovered quickly that they housed a pair of Energon blades, only activated when he used his Cyber Key power.

And, ironically enough, he had an Autobot to thank for them.

Vector Prime had given him these powers, thinking the seeker was a good guy. He had led Starscream, Thundercracker, and a few other trusted generals to the reformatting chamber, where they received their Cyber Key powers. Starscream had gone first, followed closely by the others.

After the reformatting, Vector Prime had tried to recruit them for a mission to save Cybertron. The ancient mech didn't finish his proposal, as Starscream had had him taken prisoner for the duration of Starscream's campaign to finish the Autobots.

The reformatting had left them all with numerous improvements. Starscream himself now sported the two null ray cannons, the Energon blades, a pair of pulse blasters on his chest, mounted on either side and to the back of his long cockpit in starfighter mode, and an incredible speed increase. As a result, he was one of the most feared opponents ever had, surpassed only by Megatron.

A smile crawled across his silver face as the blue ball that was Earth came into view. His purple optics brightened in anticipation.

Megabolt was tapping his foot again. He was nervous. It was his first major battle, and he had every right to be so. But he'd been in small skirmishes before, but not since his operation.

"Operation", they'd called it. They just about rebuilt him, really.

He tried not to think about it. The operation was incredibly painful, and he was still doing the therapy to recover.

Three years now.

Megastorm had never been too happy with Megabolt's decision. Of course, Megastorm was happy where he was content not to do anything greater than be a regular joe. Megabolt couldn't blame him for that.

After all, having a legend as a father casts a pretty long shadow.

Megabolt opened a panel on the neutron cannon on his arm. It was one of the new additions from his operation. They'd been forced to completely rebuild his old body to make this one and have the mass shifter work. He once was a silver tank with black trim, like his brother Megastorm, but now he was much different. His torso and upper arms were white, with dark purple blocky forearms with gold highlights, a similar design for his chestplate, where the Decepticon insignia was displayed. His upper legs were half black, half white, his shins purple with a gold streak going up the middle, and black dominated the rest of his legs, save for his feet. His head looked like he was wearing a white bucket over a normally silver head. Lime green optics stared out underneath. Behind his back was what looked like a large trigger, and just behind that held a pair of what looked like a barrel casing for a gun, spread behind him like wings.

He closed up the panel after tweaking a few things and went back to sensors. He noticed they were closing in on Earth. He logged the entry and headed for the troop deck. When the ground invasion went out, he wanted to be with them and see how well his new body worked.

"You wanted to speak to us, Skyblast?" Hot Shot asked. He, Jetfire, Inferno, and Wingsaber stood before one of the few remaining Omnicons, the only mechs who could process raw Energon.

"Yeah. I managed to scrounge up some Energon stars. Hopefully they'll give you enough of a boost to hold out." Skyblast began handing out the red star-shaped clusters of compressed and refined Enegon.

As Skyblast attached the stars to the access ports each mech carried. Once attached, the Energon immediately went to work repairing the broken systems of the Autobots.

"Ahh. Much better." Hot Shot sighed.

"I feel better than I have in years!" Wingsaber exclaimed.

"That hit the spot!" Inferno agreed.

"I feel like I could fly circles around Starscream himself!" Jetfire declared.

"Well, make them last. You won't be getting any more. We've run out." Skyblast said solemnly.

"Don't worry. We'll make the best of it." Hot Shot said. "All right, everyone, let's get ready to take out the Deceptitrash!"

Jetfire and Wingsaber hovered outside of the Energon shield, along with hundreds of other Autobot aerial warriors. They all knew that they would be going up against a far superior enemy, and Jetfire could tell they were on edge. He could see the Decepticon fleet in the distance. And fighting with demoralized troops was guaranteed to get him killed.

Jetfire turned to face the assembled group. "All right, everyone, I know we're all nervous. I am too. We are indeed going up against a superior enemy, but we mustn't lose heart. Remember the Battle of Iacon? A few hundred Autobots held off at least ten thousand Decepticons for five days! Only when Megatron himself arrived did they pierce the Autobot defenses.

"A great human general once said, 'The objective of war is not to die for your country, but to make some other poor bastard die for his.'" The Decepticons were close now and deploying their aerial troops. "Now let's see how many Decepticons we can make die for their cause! Autobots, ATTACK!"

Thundercracker flew in front of the Decepticon air forces. He noticed the Autobots were charging at him. "Well, well, well. Looks like the Autobrats are comin' to us! Kick in the afterburners and let's git 'er done!"

Thundercracker's engine flared as his afterburners shot him forward. His platoon followed suit. In seconds, they were close to the Autobot forces. "Give 'em a volley!" he shouted, launching four of his plasma missiles.

Thousands of energy rounds streaked into the Autobot formation. It split at the last second, flanking the Decepticon force. They began raining fire down into the Decepticons. "Break and attack!" Thundercraker ordered, spotting Jetfire and streaking towards him.

Jetfire caught Thundercracker's engine flare out of the corner of his optics. He brought his rifle to bear and sent a stream of energy at the incoming fighter.

Thundercracker dodged, energy rounds streaking past him and into the battle. "That the best you got? I've seen blind mechs shoot better!"

"Dodge this!" Jetfire retorted, blasting at the incoming seeker. Thundercracker dodged again, but Jetfire was there already. He smacked Thundercracker with the butt of his rifle, sending the seeker spiraling away. Jetfire sent off a few more rounds to finish the mech.

Jetfire turned his attention to another Decepticon, when a bolt of energy shot past him. He looked down in time to see Thundercracker's fist headed for his face. Jetfire recoiled from the impact, and Thundercracker kicked Jetfire in the abdominal plate.

"It takes more'n that to finish me! But I bet this'll finish you! CYBER KEY POWER!" Thundercracker shouted, as a bolt of energy shot from nowhere and into Thundercracker's gun arm, opening it. The top and bottom halves of the barrel split and spread, extending the narrow orange cannon beneath.

Jetfire stared. "So that's the Decepticon's secret weapon…" He braced himself for the incoming attack.

Thundercracker's weapon charged, then he let the energy beam fly at Jetfire. Jetfire dodged, and the energy lance sped straight past him…

…and into an Energon Tower right below Jetfire.

"No!" Jetfire screamed, watching the blast rip into the top of the tower, blasting it open. Fiery explosions rippled down its length a full mile. The entire section of the grid it held began to flicker and die. The explosions finally hit a critical system, blasting the tower apart and tearing the grid section it held to ribbons.

Starscream saw the explosion from his ship and chuckled. The end was fast approaching, and there was nothing the Autobots could do to stop it. He commed Mudflap on the bridge. "Bring the fleet in. It is time to finish this." He said, voice dripping with anticipation.


	2. The Fall of Earth 2

Transformers: Cybertron DX

Episode 2: The Fall of Earth, part 2

"The Energon shield has been breached! All units, move to cover the gap!" Wingsaber commanded. They had to keep the Decepticons off of the surface, no matter what it took.

"Looks like the end for you!" Thundercracker cackled, firing at Jetfire.

Jetfire dodged, then smashed his rifle across Thundercracker's head, knocking the mech out and away. He spun to face Wingsaber. "Get to the surface, warn Hot Shot. Make ready to evacuate to Iacon One. I'll try to hold off the Decepticons as long as possible."

"Got it!" Wingsaber said, then transformed and headed for the surface.

Jetfire looked back to the battle. The fleet was moving in, and pouring out more units.

Suddenly, pinpricks of light appeared on the ships, and within seconds, those pinpricks resolved into heavy laser cannon blasts. They shredded through the assembled Autobot defenses. Thankfully, they scattered before most of them were hit.

Jetfire picked out four units on his HUD, then motioned for them to form up on him. "The rest of you, get to the surface. Help prepare defenses down there and help with the evacuation."

Four units approached Jetfire. "All right, guys, we're going to see if we can't take out a few of those ships. Let's go!" Jetfire said, then sped with his group to the Decepticon fleet.

Megabolt walked down the halls of the Decepticon troop carrier _Infinity_. The battle had begun, and the fleet was headed for landing on Earth. And they had actually let Megabolt fight. They may have been too busy to remember he shouldn't be fighting at all right now, or they didn't care. He liked it that way.

Megabolt checked his neutron cannon. Good, still running perfectly. Just like it was 30 seconds ago.

_Calm down. You'll be fine. You may even get some recognition from this. _He told himself.

Just then, Jetfire and his Autobots blasted through the bulkhead. On instinct, Megabolt fired his cannon into the squad, slagging the head and shoulders of one bot. The Autobots returned fire, an Megabolt ducked for cover.

He opened his comlink. "Intruder alert on deck 17, section D!" Megabolt leaned around the corner, fired, and ducked back.

Wingsaber soared down on Ocean City, one of the few places on Earth that was still well defended. Hot Shot was on deck, working on something. He landed and transformed.

"Hot Shot, we have problems. The Decepticons have pierced the orbital defenses. They'll be here any minute." Wingsaber reported.

"I saw the tower get destroyed. I've sent Jetfire's forces to help with the evacuation of the other cities. Though there really isn't anyplace left for us to run."

Wingsaber looked to the skies. "Looks like they're already here."

Jetfire felt the ship rumble. The instant they'd entered the ship, one of his men had been killed. Jetfire had sent the rest of his men to try and flank the Decepticon. He hadn't heard from them since.

Another bolt streaked down the corridor. Jetfire ducked behind his cover and wondered when Decepticon reinforcements would arrive.

He ducked back out and fired again, then ducked back. When there was no return fire, Jetfire leaned out again. Nothing. He crouched and snuck down the hall, rifle at the ready.

Megabolt knew his plan. The Autobot Jetfire would come down the hall, round the corner, and meet a blast from Megabolt's neutron cannon, just like the other two Autobots that tried to flank him.

It came as a surprise when the Jetfire rolled into view, below Megabolt's leveled cannon, and let loose with a few rounds. Megabolt stumbled backwards and nearly fell. Jetfire lunged, ready to snap his rifle butt into Megabolt's face, but Megabolt headed that off with a swift kick to Jetfire's head. The Autobot reeled, and Megabolt followed up with a hastily aimed neutron blast. The explosion sent Jetfire into the wall.

Megabolt aimed his cannon dead-center on Jetfire. "You should know better than to invade a Decepticon ship, Autobot. And now you will pay the ultimate price." Megabolt smiled.

Jetfire shook of the shock and looked back at Megabolt. "I don't plan on dying yet." He said, pulling out his holdout blaster and sending a few bolts towards Megabolt. It gave just enough time for Jetfire to escape back to the hole he came in from.

"Slaggin' Autobot!" Megabolt cursed, then felt the ship shift as they came in for landing.

Chromia watched the troops unload from the sea. It had been a long time since she had had a chance to simply ride the waves, and this was as good a chance as any. Besides, they were making a sea attack on Ocean City, and she wanted her sea legs back.

She briefly wondered how many bots on her team had seaworthy alt modes. Chromia transformed into a purple speedboat with a mounted plasma rocket launcher, robot mode all curled up inside the boat body. A simple transformation, but effective. She knew there were bots that had human aircraft carrier alt modes, like Tidal Wave did, but that may not be enough.

Chromia noticed a bot waving her to shore. She headed in and transformed on the coast. "Report."

"Apparently an Autobot squad had infiltrated one of our ships, the _Infinity_. Thanks to the efforts of one of our troops, it was repelled. One of the Autobots escaped." The Decepticon reported.

Chromia nodded. "So that was the gunfire I heard earlier. Was he headed for Ocean City?"

"We believe so. He did fly off in that direction."

"Very well. Send out air patrols, two or three units max. Make sure the Autobots can't sneak up on us before we're ready." Chromia ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." The Decepticon saluted and ran off.

Chromia turned to the other Decepticon that had ran up during her conversation. "And you?"

"We're ready to move, ma'am. All troops are on the ground and ready for action." The other Decepticon reported.

"Excellent. How many seaworthy units do we have?"

"Roughly 25 of the force is seaworthy. 50 is airworthy, the rest can find transport from the other groups."

Chromia nodded. "Good. Have the remainder get aboard those who can transport them. We move in ten minutes."

The Decepticon saluted and ran off.

Hot Shot pored over the incoming data reports. Jetfire had nearly crashed in, heavily damaged. He reported the Decepticons were massing four miles south of the city. He was in the repair bay, getting what treatment the Autobots could provide.

He wouldn't be in the next battle. Instead, Jetfire was going on the eavc list.

Hot Shot sighed. Jetfire was their most experienced Air Commander. Wingsaber was still functional, but hadn't really had command of anything larger than a squadron.

As if on cue, Wingsaber walked up to Hot Shot. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Hot Shot turned to face him. "Yes, I did. With Jetfire's injuries, he's not going to be able to participate in the coming battle. That leaves us short an Air Commander."

Wingsaber paused. "Wait, does that mean you want me as-"

Hot Shot smiled. "Yup. Go get your men ready, commander. The Decepticons will be mounting their attack soon."

Wingsaber saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Mudflap watched Ocean City. It was interesting that he got the ground op, when there was no way in to the city, as the bridge was submerged. Hopefully his saboteur could raise the bridge when the time came, long enough for him and his men to get in.

Personally, Mudflap would have just bombed the cities into dust. They didn't need the Energon towers. They had the schematics, so they could just build their own. Starscream was wasting valuable soldiers. After all, he'd heard rumors about the Decepticons' next mission, once the Autobots were destroyed.

It was all rumor and speculation, of course, but they gave him the creeps all the same. Something about a massive black hole, getting larger by the day. It was kept an absolute secret, of course, but there was an odd hole in the Cybertronian night sky.

The more horrible rumors suggested that it was the remains of Unicron himself, attempting one last, desperate plot to destroy the universe. And it was those rumors that chilled him to the core.

A Decepticon approached him from behind. "Sir, we're ready. Chromia reports she's moving in."

"We can't do anything until that bridge is raised. Have we had contact from our spy?" Mudflap replied without turning.

"No sir. He was last sighted entering the city."

"Good. Then we hope he is still alive."

Inferno sat in his sniper nest, watching the seas. He was one of the remaining fifty snipers on the team not deployed at Iacon One. And he had to take down as many Decepticons as possible before they got too close.

A disturbance appeared on the water. Inferno zoomed in and saw a massive Decepticon sea fleet approaching. Just above them was an air fleet, thousands of units strong. The sea fleet had similar numbers of transports, and who knew how many units resided within. Riding the waves in front of it all was Chromia, a convoy of ships following close behind.

Then Inferno noticed something in the front of the air forces. He targeted, and zoomed in as far as his beam rifle would go. The shape of the lead fighter was unmistakeable.

Starscream himself was leading this onslaught.

Inferno exhaled slowly. If he could take out Starscream first, then the rest of the Decepticon forces would fall apart. Hopefully.

Inferno took dead aim on Starscream. The war would end here, one way or another. Inferno steadied his aim, and-

Explosions rocked his hideout, smoke obscuring his vision. He snapped out of his sniper view and saw that the Decepticon sea forces had begun a bombardment. He saw several carrier ships open their turbo blasters. Inferno took aim on a few sea units and sniped them out, having lost Starscream. In fact, he had lost Chromia, too.

Starscream flew over the outer wall of Ocean City, expertly dodging the incoming fire. The Autobot air forces turned and sped at him, unleashing storms of firepower at him.

Starscream transformed and fired his null-rays at the incoming forces. The rest of his squadron would deal with the others. He turned and met with a blast from another Autobot.

Wingsaber stared at the Decepticon emperor. "Want more? Because I've got more where that came from!"

"Do you really think you're any match for me?" Starscream replied, spraying Wingsaber with pulse cannon shots.

Wingsaber jumped into the air and returned fire. Starscream rolled to the side and fired a null ray at Wingsaber. Wingsaber recoiled from the blast, systems freezing up. Starscream charged, slamming Wingsaber into a bulkhead.

"I thought you had something for me. I guess I was wrong." Starscream said, kicking Wingsaber. Another Autobot tried to tackle Starscream, but he grabbed the Autobot's head and crushed it.

The spy Nightwing meandered through the halls of Ocean City, invisible. It was hard to remain that way, with bots running around everywhere. But that wasn't his problem. His problem was getting to the control room and letting Mudflap's forces in.

Soon, he came upon the control room, a few Autobots manning the consoles. Nightwing snuck up behind one and chucked a noisemaker grenade into the hallway behind him. They all jumped, several turned, guns drawn.

"We'll check it out. Stay here, Sparkplug." One of the Autobots who had drawn their gun said, and left. Sparkplug returned to his console.

Nightwing snuck up on Sparkplug, drew his dagger, and jammed it into the Autobot's back. Sparkplug fell, and Nightwing withdrew his dagger and stepped up to the console. He looked over the controls, trying to find the one that would raise the ramp. In a second, he spotted it and activated it.

Behind him, the Autobots returned from the hall. "Intruder alert!" Several fired upon Nightwing, blasting his back open. As his last act, Nightwing stabbed through the control to submerge the bridge. Knowing his mission was complete, Nightwing collapsed on the console, dead.

Mudflap saw the bridge to Ocean City rise from the sea, seaweed dangling from supports, and patches of coral. Mudflap smiled. "It is time to strike! CHARGE!" He roared, transforming and speeding out on to the rising roadway, thousands of Decepticons following.

"Sir, the bridge to the mainland just raised! Decepticons are swarming over it, and the controls have been destroyed!" Hot Shot heard over his comm. He finished the Decepticon he was fighting by planting the butt of his rifle in the Decepticon's face, followed by a short burst into its chest.

"Say again?" Hot Shot replied, ducking behind cover.

"The bridge to the mainland has been raised! Mudflap and his troops are breaking through the main gate!"

Hot Shot grimaced as he shot another Decepticon in the head. They were being overrun, and the evacuation transports hadn't been fully prepared. "Fall back! Get to the transports! Prepare to-" Hot Shot was cut off as a Decepticon's foot smashed into his face. He returned fire, felling another Decepticon.

Apparently his orders had gotten through, as Autobots everywhere began to fall back to the evac zone. Through the confusion, Hot Shot spotted Wingsaber on the ground. He hopped out of his cover and made his way over to the damaged mech.

Inferno made it there at the same time. "Looks like he's been shot with a null ray," was all he said.

Wingsaber's optics flickered to life. "Fancy meeting you two here." He coughed.

"Met up with Starscream?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yep. I think the null rays are-" Wingsaber froze for a moment. "-wearing off."

"Must've used a low-power setting." Inferno looked back at the incoming Decepticons. Chromia was busy pounding a heavy weapon emplacement with her rockets. "We'd better move. D-cons will be here any minute."

"I'll get him to the transports. Cover me." Hot Shot ordered. He turned to Wingsaber. "Can you walk?"

Wingsaber got up with some difficulty. "I think so. I may-" Wingsaber froze again. "-freeze up sometimes, but I should be all right."

"Gotcha." Hot Shot took Wingsaber's weight as Wingsaber leaned on him.

The pair made their way through Ocean City's corridors to the evac zone on the other side. Chromia sighted the trio leaving, motioned for a few soldiers to join her, and pursued them, Megabolt being one of them.

Thundercracker occupied himself with terrorizing the Autobots below. It was always fun, watching Autobots scramble for their transports like rats leaving a sinking ship. But this time, there was nowhere for them to run to.

Suddenly, the Autobots in the area surged. "They must have ordered the retreat. I'd like to know where they're gonna run to." Thundercracker wondered. He loosed a brace of missiles at a nearby transport, blasting a hole in it.

He spotted Starscream on the other side of the evacuation zone. It looked like he was enjoying himself, slicing Autobots in half with his Cyber Key powered blades. He always was good with sharp objects.

Hot Shot fired at the Decepticons chasing himself, Wingsaber, and Inferno. Many of the transports were away already, and more were being loaded by the minute.

"I think it's worn off. I'm good, now." Wingsaber said from Hot Shot's side. Wingsaber got to his feet and flexed a bit.

"You sure?" Hot Shot checked.

"One hundred percent. Let's get out of here." Wingsaber replied, firing at the Decepticons.

Suddenly, a black and purple foot knocked Wingsaber off his feet as missiles and blaster fire forced Inferno and Hot Shot to take cover.

Wingsaber rolled and sprang to his feet. Megabolt had already recovered and had his neutron cannon aimed at Wingsaber. "Any last words, Autobot?"

"Yeah. Think fast!" Wingsaber transformed and sped straight at Megabolt's legs, knocking the other mech down.

Megabolt landed on his back, took aim, and fired at Wingsaber. Wingsaber dodged the incoming blast. Megabolt grabbed a nearby rifle and continued firing on Wingsaber.

Wingsaber dodged these shots easily. "Need to get your optics checked?" he taunted.

"Wingsaber! We need support!" Inferno commed.

"On my way." Wingsaber banked and sped toward Hot Shot and inferno's position, firing where Chromia and her troops had taken cover. The few surviving mechs scattered.

Hot Shot and Inferno got up and sprinted for the transports. Chromia and Megabolt charged after them. Megabolt aimed at one of the landing struts and fired, destroying it. The entire ship leaned to one side, throwing the three Autobots off the ramp.

Inferno got up. "You two get to the ship. I'll cover you."

"No, I'll do it." Hot Shot said.

Inferno fired at the Decepticons. "Go! There's not time to discuss it!"

"This war has enough dead heroes, Inferno. You're coming with us!" Wingsaber exclaimed.

Inferno ducked down. "Which is why you two need to go. The Autobots need both of you. Remember when I said the tide might turn soon?"

Hot Shot nodded. "Yeah."

Inferno fired again. "You two will be a part of it. I won't. Go!" He ducked out of cover and charged at the Decepticons.

Hot Shot grimaced. "Good luck, old friend." He and Wingsaber charged onto the evacuation ship.

Inferno smashed Chromia in the face with the butt of his rifle. Megabolt had gone off to flank the other Autobots.

"You want to destroy this transport? You'll have to go through me!" Inferno challenged.

"That won't take long." Chromia returned, and fired her plasma rockets at Inferno. Inferno rolled out of the way, and the transport's landing ramp came up into the ship.

Inferno returned fire, piercing one of the sides of boat frame. Chrmoia recoiled and tackled Inferno. The pair grappled for a few minutes, when Inferno curled up and planted both his feet into Chromia's body, slamming her into a nearby wall.

Chromia looked up from the ground as Inferno leveled his rifle. "At least something good will come of this battle." Inferno said, aiming.

Megabolt ran from his cover. "Chromia, catch me!" he shouted, jumping in the air and transforming.

Chromia was briefly confused by the statement until she saw Megabolt transform into his gun mode. She caught him, aimed at Inferno, and fired, hitting the Autobot in the chest and knocking him down. Chromia got to her feet and stalked over to Inferno, who was still alive, just with a gaping hole in his chest.

"Such a brave last stand. Too bad it didn't do you any good." She said, and fired at Inferno's exposed spark.

In a flash, Inferno's spark exploded, briefly overloading Chromia's optics. When they reset, she looked to the sky and saw the last of the Autobot transports escaping.

Starscream came up behind Chromia, the battle settling down. "Are you all right?" he asked. "I saw Inferno getting ready to finish you."

"I'm fine, Star. Thanks to this soldier." Chromia replied, tossing Megabolt into the air.

Megabolt transformed from his gun mode and landed. He knelt. "Lord Starscream."

Starscream turned to face Megabolt. "Rise and state your name, soldier. I wish to know who shall receive my gratitude."

Megabolt rose, still at attention. "My name is Megabolt, my lord."

"Megabolt? I've heard that name before, I think." Starscream shook his head. "No matter. You have my gratitude, Megabolt."

"And mine." Chromia added.

Demolishor snapped awake. It always was boring on watch duty. It was actually a wonder he could fall asleep. He'd heard about the battle at Earth, and how it was going badly. He expected transports within the hour.

Demolishor got up. He'd been in Iacon One's control room for hours. He transformed back and forth from his Cybertronian tank mode to his robot mode multiple times. His armor, like many other Autobots these days, was scratched and pitted. He hadn't changed from for over twenty years, unlike most of the other transformers. Not that they couldn't, as he had received offers to get rebuilt after joining the Autobots, but he didn't really want to. It did occur to him to change, just to keep up. Maybe they'd make his eyes the same color and size this time.

A flash in the hangar made Demolishor jump. He entered, his fingers (where his guns were planted) at the ready.

What he found was a Minicon.

Minicons had largely been contained to Cybertron by the Decepticons. Those that had escaped were either dead or captured. Reports from Cybertron said that the Minicons had, essentially, been enslaved, working in jobs most others wouldn't dream of. It was kind of depressing.

This minicon was almost solid white, with sky blue highlights. It looked up at Demolishor with its sky-blue optics, clearly exhausted. It beeped at him.

"I mean you no harm?" Demolisor asked, unable to translate the Minicon's language.

The Minicon beeped again.

"I'm sorry, I can't understand you."

The Minicon ran off and grabbed the datapad on a nearby table. It ran back, typing on the pad. It handed the pad to Demolishor.

"Am I allied with the Autobots? Yes, I am." Demolishor said, handing the pad back to the Minicon.

It typed again, and handed it back.

"'Your name is Safeguard, Minicon partner to Vector Prime, Guardian of Time.' Very nice to meet you, Safeguard. My name is Demolishor." Demolishor read.

Safeguard took the pad back, and typed again. He handed it back.

"'You must rescue Vector Prime. Only he can help you prepare for the return of Unicron.'"


	3. Turning the Tide

Transformers: Cybertron DX

Episode 3: Turning the Tide

Demolishor reread the sentence Safeguard had typed on the pad a few times. He had read things wrong before, usually earning him a smack or lecture from Megatron. Demolishor had gotten better at reading things right, but this made no sense. Unicron had been destroyed ten years ago, how could he possibly return now?

"Are… are you serious?" Demolishor stammered.

Safeguard nodded.

"Well… If the others come back, I'll let them know." As if on cue, the warp gate outside opened, and transports streamed through. "I guess you can tell your story soon."

The first transport touched down, auxiliary struts coming down to support the injured ship. The landing ramp descended, and Hot Shot limped out. Demolishor saluted. "Doesn't look like things went well."

"No, they didn't." Hot Shot growled.

"Well, I have some good news! A Minicon showed up a few minutes ago! He says he can help us!" Demolishor said excitedly.

Hot Shot stared at him. "Well, where is it?"

Safeguard stepped out in front of Hot Shot and beeped. Hot Shot looked down, listened, then frowned. "I have no idea what he's saying. But I'll get the others." Hot Shot limped back into the ship.

Demolishor waited in the conference room. He'd rarely been allowed inside, and if he was, it was short. He had put a lot of time into the Autobots, risking his life for them, and he still wasn't on the council. It grated on his nerves. But now, he had something good to present. Something that could change the course of the war.

Hopefully.

Just then, the door to the conference room opened. Hot Shot entered first, followed by a freshly repaired Jetfire, Wingsaber, and Red Alert. Demolishor wondered where Inferno was, then realized that Inferno must have been killed. He hung his head.

The Autobots took their seats. Hot Shot spoke first. "All right, Demolishor. What did the Minicon tell you?"

Demolishor stood. "He told me he is named Safeguard, and he's the Minicon partner of Vector Prime, Guardian of Time. He says we need to rescue Vector Prime if we are to defend against Unicron's return."

Hot Shot looked at Safeguard. "Is this true, Safeguard?"

Safeguard nodded, beeping.

Jetfire spoke. "And where is Vector Prime?"

Safeguard grabbed a nearby pad, typed into it, and passed it to Jetfire.

"Cybertron?! You expect us to rescue someone in the heart of the Decepticon Empire?" Jetfire exclaimed.

Safeguard beeped angrily.

"We can't go to Cybertron. We'd never be able to get past the Decepticon forces that guard the planet, let alone get your friend out. I'm sorry, Safeguard." Red Alert said solemnly.

Safeguard grabbed the pad and typed more, then passed it to Hot Shot.

"There's no way we can do it. Even if Vector Prime can grant these 'Cyber Key powers', he'd be too heavily guarded." Hot Shot explained.

Demolishor spoke up. "I think Safeguard teleported here. If he can teleport himself, maybe he can teleport us to Cybertron."

Safeguard shook his head, typed more in the pad, and passed it to Demolishor.

"Oh, your teleporters aren't strong enough to do that? Not even a small group of us?"

Safeguard shook his head.

"There's merit to the small group plan, though. Every defense has a weakness. If we can just slip behind enemy lines, we might have a chance at getting Vector Prime out." Wingsaber said.

"What if Vector Prime is just a trap for us? Starscream could lure the remaining elite Autobots to Cybertron, and then slaughter us like lambs." Red Alert added.

"I did my reading. Vector Prime is one of the last existing members of the Thirteen. If anyone can help us, it's him." Demolishor said.

"Besides, the Decepticons don't know about Iacon One. And they've just won what they think is the final battle. Security will be lax. If we could sneak in, just us in this room, then we could pull off a rescue." Wingsaber offered.

"Could you lead us to where Vector Prime is imprisoned, Safeguard?" Demolishor asked.

Safeguard nodded.

"I don't see why we shouldn't go. We'd be no worse off if we failed. The Autobots would be forced to surrender anyway. But if we succeed, we may have a chance." Wingsaber said.

Red Alert nodded. "He makes a valid point. We've got nothing to lose but our lives."

Jetfire remained silent.

Hot Shot sighed. "Well, we were originally going to meet to discuss what to do now. I guess we have it. Jetfire? Anything to say?"

"I think this is crazy. But you're right. Desperate times call for desperate measures." Jetfire said.

"Then' let's get to planning."

Megabolt stood at Megatron Square, where one of the last few statues of the former Decepticon leader, Megatron, stood. His hand cupped the spot where the moon would be right now, if it still existed. Twenty years ago, Unicron had emerged from that moon, destroying it. Starscream had later had most of the Megatron statues destroyed, like every other leader had before him, but this one stayed at the behest of the populace.

Now it stood as a silent reminder of what was. Megabolt sighed, not noticing the footsteps behind him.

"Well, well. Look who decided to come back." A snide voice said behind him.

Megabolt smiled. "Not my fault you decided to stay here, brother." He turned, and saw his brother Megastorm. Megastorm was roughly as tall as Megabolt, with a similar helmet-style head, only the helmet part was gunmetal gray and his face a shining silver. His torso was wide, as it formed the front end of his tank form, arms coming over the treads on either side of his body. Megastorm's upper legs matched the color of his helmet, with a bone white stripe down the center of his codpiece. His legs shared the bone white coloring, broken only by a dark green stripe down his shins and the tank treads on each leg. A medium compression laser was mounted on his right arm, and an energy rifle slung on his back.

"Not my fault you signed up for those experiments." Megastorm retorted.

"If I hadn't, I might not have survived the battle."

Megastorm noticed the medal hanging on Megabolt's chest. "And you might not have gotten hat medal, either. Tell me, what did you do for that?"

"I saved one of Starscream's generals. 'Going above and beyond the call of duty', and all that." Megabolt replied.

Megastorm shook his head and stepped up beside Megabolt. He stared at the statue of Megatron. "I suppose one of us was destined to inherit Father's greatness."

Megabolt turned and looked at Megatron's statue with his brother. "It was inevitable, I suppose."

Starscream strode down the halls of Darkmount Fortress, the headquarters and personal residence of every Decepticon leader since its formation. Leaders also stored things here, some hidden so well that no one but the one who hid them could find them again. As such, many artifacts had since been lost to time, and rumors had grown about many of them.

Starscream was going to visit with that which he had stored here.

He stopped in front of one of the rooms and waved the guards aside, then entered. He walked up to his prisoner. "So, Vector Prime, how has your stay been?"

The ancient mech never turned, simply staring at the wall.

"Come now, I wish only to know how your stay has been. Have the guards been treating you well?"

Vector Prime stayed silent.

"Well, if you won't partake in regular discussion, perhaps you can simply tell me how to adjust this map you so graciously gave me."

"Never." Vector Prime spat.

"And why not? Cybertron will be destroyed if you don't." Starscream replied.

"Only I can adjust it, so it must be returned to me. Since you will not do so, we are at an impasse."

Starscream smiled. "Perhaps. We'll discuss this later. I have other things to do today." The seeker turned and left.

When Starscream returned to his quarters, he caught the distinct feeling someone was in there. He charged his null rays and strode into the room.

Chromia was sitting on his recharge chamber. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

Starscream disarmed his weapons, then closed his door and locked it. "I thought I'd see if I could find out how to align that map Vector Prime gave me."

"And he didn't tell you?"

"He said he had to do it." Starscream walked over and sat next to Chromia. "I wouldn't trust him not to mess with it."

"Maybe you shouldn't have stolen it, then." Chromia giggles, leaning against Starscream.

"That might've worked." Starscream replied, draping his arm over Chromia's shoulders as best he could.

Chromia looked up at Starscream. "When will we be able to settle down? We've been in an endless war, and now we've got a giant black hole threatening us, and who knows what after that? Will it ever end?"

Starscream looked back into Chromia's optics. "Once the black hole has been dealt with, it will all be over. Don't worry about it." He smiled.

"I hope so."

"Enough with this negative talk. It's been a while since we were able to talk like this. So let's talk about something else." Starscream prompted.

Chromia looked at him slyly. "Maybe we can do a little more than 'talk'."

Hot Shot surveyed a holo of Cybertron at the present. Decepticon warships held orbit over the metal world, the remaining Energon towers looking like tiny spikes. As far as Hot Shot could see, there was no way in. The patrols were simply too thick. Sneaking in would be nigh impossible that way.

"There's the transports. If we could sneak into one of those, we could smuggle ourselves in." Jetfire suggested.

"That's if we could find out where they take on their cargo, and what it is. We'd need to smuggle inside something the 'cons aren't likely to check." Hot Shot said.

"Energon waste? We could ambush the transport wherever they dump the stuff." Demolishor said.

"Energon doesn't produce waste like that. Though they might have to import it from somewhere else." Jetfire said.

"There's the Energon plant on Thyferus. We could steal a transport from there." Hot Shot said.

"Wait, what about that Decepticon shuttle we have? We could change the ID tags, and it wouldn't be hard to get the access codes for getting in." Wingsaber interjected.

"If what our spies say is true, they haven't changed codes for a while. Of course, this was months ago, but they may not have changed still." Red Alert said.

"Looks like Wingsaber has most of the good ideas. But I don't want to risk going in with a bad code. You saw how many ships are in orbit. We give the wrong code, we get blasted before we can twitch." Hot Shot explained.

"What about that cloaking device Rad was working on? Did he ever get it working?" Jetfire asked.

"I don't know. The last mention he made of it was that it was in the prototype stages. But that was before the MG-322 facility was destroyed. The device may have gone with the rest of the facility and everyone in it." Red Alert supplied.

Hot Shot sighed. "Well, the way I see it, we may as well go ahead with the shuttle. The cloaking device has most likely been destroyed, and getting a new code would take too long. I don't like it, but again, our lack of resources forces us into desperation. I just hope we're lucky enough for it to work. Demolishor, get down to the hangar and have them prep the shuttle." Hot Shot finished.

After a fairly long warp jump, the Autobots got their first look at Cybertron in years. "Cybertron has changed. No matter how many times you see a holo, it's still shocking to see it in person." Wingsaber commented.

"Decepticon ship incoming. Act natural." Red Alert said from the sensor console.

Demolishor began quivering slightly. "Just fly casual. We'll be fine." He reassured himself.

"They're asking for our code. Transmitting." Red Alert announced.

"Moment of truth." Jetfire muttered.

Only a few minutes passed, but it seemed like hours to the crew. Finally, Red Alert announced, "They accepted the code, though they advise us to update it."

Everyone let out a collective breath. "And that was the easy part." Demolishor sighed.

Hot Shot turned to Safeguard. "You said Vector Prime is in Darkmount, right? Is there a back entrance we can use?"

The Minicon typed words into his datapad, then handed it to Hot Shot.

"Good. That will do fine."

Mudflap wandered in the lower sections of Cybertron. Before, he wanted to prove in battle that he could be a better leader than Starscream. He hoped the populace would have supported him and have helped him overthrow the seeker.

Sadly, that dream had died. He would now have to rethink his plan.

Mudflap looked into the sky and saw a Decepticon shuttle headed for Darkmount. He scanned it, noting it as one of the missing shuttles.

_Missing shuttles usually don't just appear out of nowhere. And this one isn't following the standard path for a passenger shuttle. _Mudflap smiled. He continued walking and emerged at Megatron Square, noting the presence of Megastorm.

"You there! Soldier! State your name!" Mudflap bellowed as he approached.

Megastorm jumped and turned to see Mudflap nearing him. He saluted and said, "Megastorm, sir! Was I, uh, doing something improper?"

"No. I want you to come with me. I think some Autobots have infiltrated the planet and mean to assassinate our beloved leader. I want you to help me stop them." Mudflap stated eloquently.

"Yes, sir!"

Mudflap smiled. "Good. Follow me."

The Decepticon shuttle had put down in a junkyard near Darkmount. Safeguard said it was the least secure part of Darkmount itself. The broken hulks of assorted trash moldered here, as well as the twisted corpses of those who tried to defy Megatron. Apparently, Megatron had made good use of it.

Safeguard typed messages into the datapad, then passed it to Hot Shot. "So we need to recover his sword first, then his map. According to what Safeguard wrote, the prisons are on the third floor. Prisoner effects are kept near there, so that's probably where the sword will be. The map, apparently, Starscream took, so that's going to be hard to get. Safeguard, does Vector prime have an extra map?" Hot Shot asked.

Safeguard typed more messages.

"Maybe, but they'd both need to be realigned." Hot Shot sighed. He pondered the best way to do this. "All right, everyone, we need to get both very quickly. I'm uploading a map of the prison area to everyone, so we can navigate. Vector Prime is in the highlighted cell. We'll split into two teams. Demolishor, Jetfire, Wingsaber, you three will recover Vector Prime's weapons. Red Alert, Safeguard, and I will get Vector Prime out. We rendezvous in front of the prisoner effects area. Any questions?"

"Insertion options?" Wingsaber asked.

"Maintenance corridors would be the best bet. I don't think they're monitored too well. Down here is largely maintenance, so we should be able to go unnoticed." Hot Shot answered. When no one else spoke up, Hot Shot said, "All right, let's go!"

The Autobots split into their groups and entered the towering citadel of Darkmount.

Demolishor, Jetfire, and Wingsaber had made their way through the maintenance levels of Darkmount to the prisons undetected. Comm silence had to be maintained, so both teams could remain unseen. They had emerged through the floor and into a side corridor. Jetfire, the first one through the hole, swept the corridor with his blaster. Seeing nothing, he motioned for the others to come up. Jetfire gestured down the hall, and the trio moved stealthily down it.

At the end was a security station. The sign above the door read "Prisoner Effects Storage Room." The guard at the monitor desk looked bored and half-asleep. Wingsaber pulled out a stun pistol and shot the guard. He slumped over his desk.

"Guard neutralized." Wingsaber reported. Jetfire fumed, leaned out into the adjacent corridor and checked for other guards. Fortunately, there were none.

He turned to Wingsaber. "ENTIRELY too risky, Wingsaber. What if there was a guard coming down the hall? He would have seen that, then the entire fortress would be alerted!" Jetfire hissed.

"Sorry."

Jetfire motioned Demolishor forward. He unlocked the storage room. After sweeping the room, he motioned the others into it. Demolishor was the last one in.

"All right, where's this sword? We need to meet up with Hot Shot's team soon." Wingsaber asked.

"Right over there." Demolishor pointed at a sword mounted on the wall.

Jetfire cautiously approached and picked up the sword. When nothing went off, he relaxed a bit. "That was too easy."

Suddenly, an alarm blared. The trio exited the room, heading for the prison block.

A floor panel jiggled, jerked upward slightly, came down, then raised slowly and slid off the hole it covered. Hot Shot poked his rifle out, then his head and swept the hall. It was clear. Hot Shot climbed out, followed by Red Alert and Safeguard. They moved quickly down the hall to Vector Prime's cell.

"Hey! Are you Vector Prime?" Hot Shot whispered.

Vector Prime turned, expecting a Decepticon. "Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I'm Hot Shot. Your Minicon Safeguard came to us to have us rescue you." Hot Shot said, setting up a field disruptor. He activated it, breaking the field. When Hot Shot finished, Safeguard ran up and hugged Vector Prime's leg.

"It is good to see you too, Safeguard." Vector Prime looked at Hot Shot. "Thank you for your help. Tell me, do you have my sword?"

"I sent a separate team to get it. We meet them in front of the storage room." Hot Shot replied.

Suddenly, alarms sounded throughout the prison. Jetfire, Demolishor, and Wingsaber came running down the hall. "We've got the sword. The guard Wingsaber stunned must have woken up and spotted us." He handed the sword to Hot Shot, who handed it to Vector Prime.

"All right, come on! We need to get out for here!" Hot Shot shouted over the alarms, moving for the way they came in.

"Unnecessary. I can get us out of here." With that, Vector Prime sliced the air with his sword, opening a rift. On the other side of the shimmering portal was a different part of Cybertron, apparently underground.

"Where does that lead?" Red Alert asked?

"To the Temple of Primus. It is there that we can gain the power we need to resist the Decepticons and stop the return of Unicron." Vector Prime said.

Hot Shot and Wingsaber headed through the gate first, followed by Red Alert, Demolishor, and Jetfire. Vector Prime was last, closing the portal behind him just as the guard began firing at them.


	4. The Reformatting

Transformers: Cybertron DX

Episode 4: The Reformatting

Mudflap watched through a remote camera the events unfolding in the prison. _So, the Autobots have indeed infiltrated Cybertron. They must be headed for the Temple. Fortunately, I'm close enough to trap them there. _Mudflap turned to face Megastorm. "Come with me."

The pair transformed and sped off. Mudflap contacted a division of his troops and directed them to the Temple. With the execution of the remaining lead Autobots, he could solidify his power base and, perhaps, overthrow Starscream.

Mudflap relished that thought.

Hot Shot and Wingsaber flew from the gate and landed on the floor. Hot Shot got up and looked around, suddenly feeling small in the massive chamber. Upon further inspection, it was more of a hallway, pillars lining it every few meters. At the end, Hot Shot saw what looked like a ziggurat, one which he couldn't see the top of. He was speechless.

"Whoa…" Wingsaber said in awe.

"I had no idea there was something this big down here!" Red Alert exclaimed.

"It is well hidden. One cannot find it unless they know what to look for." Vector Prime explained. "We do not have much time. Follow me." He led the way down the hallway.

The group walked down the hallway, everyone but Vector Prime alert. Red Alert spoke up. "So, how are we getting away? The Decepticons most likely know about this place, and will pursue. And we can't steal another ship."

"Vector Prime warped us out of the prison, so he can probably warp us back to Iacon One. Right?" Demolishor put in.

"I will need to recharge my energy before we can go anywhere. We must also retrieve the planet map before we leave. The Decepticon called Starscream has it." Vector Prime stated.

The procession froze. "STARSCREAM has it?! You expect us to get it from him!?" Demolishor exclaimed.

"He'd kill us! The only people that have survived a duel against him are those he wanted to live!" Red Alert added.

Vector Prime looked at the shocked faces of the Autobots. "We do not need to fight him. All we need is a diversion, so we can sneak into his quarters and retake the map."

"It won't be that simple." Wingsaber interjected. "All of Darkmount has been alerted to our presence and Primus knows what kind of traps he's got in his quarters. We're being hunted, and in our present condition, we've got no chance. I doubt even those Cyber Keys can help us now."

"Do not doubt the gifts of Primus." Vector Prime turned and continued down the hall.

Mudflap drove up to the entrance to the Temple and transformed, Megastorm right behind him. About fifty troops stood waiting.

"All right, gentlemen, the Autobots are in there. If we destroy them, we gain incredible prestige. And if we win, I will make sure every one of you gets Cyber Keys." Mudflap announced. "We have the element of surprise. Let's get in there and bring death to the Autobots!"

Megastorm followed Mudflap's troops into the Temple. Mudflap's troops would be enough to overwhelm this small band, but Megastorm thought there was more to Mudflap's intentions than simple extermination. _I'll need to keep an eye on him._ Megastorm thought.

"Why is Vector Prime missing?" The calm voice was much more unnerving than being screamed at. The security chief had been screamed at by Megatron, and had grown accustomed to having his audio receptors overloaded. Starscream being calm at a time like this was something no one expected.

"I, uh, the Autobots snuck in and broke him out. Sir." The security chief replied.

"And how did they get in?"

"Well, they seem to have come in through the maintenance areas. Two different spots, too."

Starscream nodded. "Why were they not detected? Is the maintenance area that empty that someone didn't see them?"

"Well, uh, security's been a bit lax since we took Earth, sir. We never thought they'd come to Cybertron."

"And what if they had been here for me?"

The security chief hung his head. "We wouldn't be having this discussion."

Starscream stood. "Exactly. And since they warped away, we have no idea where they are now and no idea what they'll do. Now get out and fix those holes. This will not happen again."

The security chief snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes, sir!" He spun on his heel and strode from the room.

Starscream took Vector Prime's map from under the desk and studied it. The Autobots had Vector Prime, and apparently only he could decode and align the map properly. And every time he did activate it, the map was a complete mess. He recognized one or two stars, but no others. Everything was in the wrong spot.

_Wait. I recognize two stars. Maybe we can realign this map without Vector Prime, using those two stars. _Starscream commed the astronomics lab. "I'm sending Vector Prime's map down there. See if you can realign the map." He clicked off the comm. and summoned a guard. Starscream handed the guard the map. "Take this to the astronomics lab."

As the guard left the room, Starscream began to pace. _Now, Vector Prime warped away before the guards got to them. Vector Prime gave us the Cyber Keys, though I did trick him for them. He is probably going to give the Autobots the Cyber Keys voluntarily, which means…_

"They're at the Temple." Starscream opened the comm to his personal guard. "The Autobots who attacked us are at the Temple of Primus. Converge there. We won't lose them this time." He closed the comm and ran out of the room. _They won't escape me this time._

Finally the Autobots came upon the ziggurat at the end of the hallway. The structure was even taller than the Autobots had expected. Vector Prime seemed like the only one who wasn't in awe, as he simply walked up to the door and stuck his sword in the lock.

The door slid open, and Vector Prime waved the Autobots inside. "Step on the pedestal and you will be reformatted. Your current bodies are not suited for use of the Cyber Keys." Vector Prime said.

"So we all get new bodies? Nifty." Jetfire commented.

"The Powerlinking modifications didn't raise your aesthetic appeal any, so this-"

"Callin' me ugly, Red?" Jetfire cut Red Alert off.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to imply that." Red Alert replied bashfully.

"'S okay, Red. Getting' a bit tired of this body anyway." Jetfire consoled.

"So, we just step on it? And BOOM- we're reformatted?" Demolishor asked.

"Yes. Who shall be first?" Vector Prime asked.

The Autobots looked around at each other. The Decepticons had used similar tricks against the Autobots before, such as lost Minicons, false Energon deposits, Decepticon superweapons, things like that. Many had been lured into these traps and destroyed, casualties increasing as the Autobots became increasingly desperate.

"Well, somebody needs to try this thing. I may as well." Wingsaber said, shrugging. He stepped up to the pedestal. "Just stand here?"

"On the diamond."

Wingsaber stepped over to the diamond in the center. The engravings on the pedestal glowed like small rivers of magma. The diamond glowed similarly, and Wingsaber was lifted off the ground and enveloped in white light.

"Wingsaber!" Hot Shot exclaimed, stepping forward.

Vector Prime held out his arm to restrain Hot Shot. "This is supposed to happen. He will be fine."

Demolishor looked up, and saw that Wingsaber had reappeared. It looked to him like his armor had been removed, exposing his inner machinery. A wave of what looked like red slime oozed down Wingsaber's body, obscuring the inner workings from view. Mass shifted and parts shrank inward, other parts growing. That was all Demolishor could see before Wingsaber was consumed by a flash of light.

The Autobots awe of the spectacle was interrupted by a laser passing within centimeters of Jetfire's head. "Behind us! Take cover!" Jetfire shouted, and the group dispersed behind whatever they could find as cover and returned fire.

Megastorm cursed. He had missed the Autobot, and had done nothing but alert the squad. "Knew I should've gotten my targeting sensors checked." He muttered. His thoughts were interrupted by a laser grazing his head. He immediately rolled to the side.

Mudflap drove up next to him. "Watch and learn." He transformed, drew his pistols, and fired down the hall, causing Hot Shot to duck behind cover again.

Mudflap waved his troops onward. "Come on! Let's finish the job!" He roared, leading the charge of his troops.

"Slag! They're charging!" Jetfire called out.

Hot Shot pulled out a grenade. "Not for much longer." He primed it and threw. "Catch this!"

A few seconds later, the sound of an explosion echoed throughout the room. A few mech parts landed amongst the Autobots. They leaned out from cover and poured firepower down the hall.

"Mind if I join you guys?" A voice said from behind Hot Shot.

Hot Shot turned to face the voice. "Wingsaber?"

"Yep. New and improved." Wingsaber said, shifting his hands to chaingun mode and firing down the hall. His new armor was a gleaming white, with black legs that had a red patch on the shins and turbines for kneecaps. White upper legs were topped by a black torso, with an Autobot insignia plastered in the center of a gleaming golden plate. His wings held missile racks and blaster cannons, making Wingsaber look like he was dressed for war.

A smile crept across Wingsaber's golden face. "Wanna be next?"

Hot Shot nodded. "As soon as we can drive these Decepticreeps back."

"Let's see what I can do about that. CYBER KEY POWER!"

Mudflap snarled. That grenade had managed to halt the charge, but a fair distance had been closed. He was about to order a second charge when the white Autobot called out for a Cyber Key. The Autobot's cockpit flipped up from his back and opened, charging the weapons in front with a menacing red glow.

The next thing Mudflap saw was a pair of flaming red plasma balls headed straight for him. He ducked back behind his cover, just in time. The plasma balls detonated close to him, vaporizing a cluster of soldiers.

Megastorm radioed the blue mech. "Mudflap, sir! We've got to fall back and regroup!"

Mudflap swore. To retreat was to admit weakness. But right now, he didn't have much of a plan. "Fall back!"

A small hail of firepower chased the Decepticons down the hall as they retreated back to the entryway. Hot Shot turned to Wingsaber. "That was pretty impressive. Do we all get cool powers like that?"

"It sometimes varies between robot mode and alternate mode. The only way to be sure is to be reformatted." Vector Prime answered.

"Ooh! Ooh! Me next!" Demolishor exclaimed.

Jetfire chuckled. "Go ahead, Demolishor. No one's stopping you."

Demolishor hopped up onto the pedestal and was engulfed by the white light.

"YOU IDIOT!!"

Mudflap recoiled from his leader's voice. He had returned to the entrance to find Starscream and Thundercracker waiting for him, along with many other soldiers. "I- well, I-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Starscream boomed, cutting off Mudflap. The seeker's optics flared. "When you knew where the Autobots were going, you should have reported it to me immediately! Thanks to your incompetence, the Autobots now have the very weapon we used so effectively against them!"

"Maybe if you weren't so incompetent yourself, the Autobots wouldn't have made it off of Earth alive!" Mudflap shouted back. Immediately he regretted his words.

Starscream's optics narrowed. "More Autobots have escaped from your forces and attacks you have personally led than any other Decepticon, and you _dare_ call me incompetent?" Starscream hissed. He stepped closer to Mudflap, staring the general square in the optics.

Mudflap stared defiantly back. "If you will let me, I will finish the Autobots for you. I will-" He was interrupted by Starscream's fist smashing into his face. The blue mech fell to the ground.

Starscream aimed one of his null lasers at Mudflap. "I'm not happy, Mudflap. You have been failing me consistently of late. And I'm sick of it. I hereby strip you of your rank of General. You will return to your barracks and wait until I call for you." Starscream turned and pointed to three of his soldiers. "Escort Mudflap to his barracks."

Mudflap resisted initially, but submitted. He silently hoped he would have some command rank left over, but Starscream dashed that hope. "I'll let you have your rank back when you earn it, Captain."

"All present and accounted for?" Hot Shot inquired. Everyone had just finished being reformatted, Hot Shot himself being the last one.

"Scattershot reporting in, sir!" A blue and yellow mech saluted. Hot Shot knew that Scattershot was Demolishor, but had decided to change his name. He was still a tank, but different. Robot mode had his treads on his shins, which were blue. His upper legs and codpiece were yellow, just like his shoulders and arms. The front end of Scattershot's vehicle mode formed his chest, with the turret in tank mode forming what looked like a backpack.

"Jetfire ready for duty." Jetfire saluted, next to Scattershot. Jetfire had assumed the form of some kind of green and white human cargo plate. His broad cockpit made his chest, Autobot symbol displayed proudly in its center. His wings formed his shoulders, and his arms the turbines. His tail folded onto his back, leaving large olive green legs to form his plane mode's middle.

"Red Alert awaiting orders, sir!" Red Alert saluted. He had retained an ambulance alternate form, but had changed structure dramatically. Both the front and back of his vehicle form meshed together to form his legs, red-tinted windshields sticking out from the tops of the shins and a deep blue stripe running down the inside front portion. One hand was still a laser scalpel/welder/whatever Red Alert needed it to be at the time. His doors covered the sides of his shoulders like shields, blue stripe running horizontally down it. His color scheme remained largely the same, navy blue and white.

Hot Shot nodded. He had assumed a new form, that of a sports car. His color scheme consisted of reds, oranges, and gold flames on his hood, which split in half to form his shoulders in robot mode. A dark gray dominated his chest plate, broken only by a yellow square in the center and orange/yellow highlights on the sides. His forearms and hands shared the dark gray coloring. His vehicle mode doors were strapped to his forearms, which contained three proton blasters each. The roof of his car mode had spun and rested on his back. His legs shared the hot coloration of the rest of his body, red with a gold triangle running up the middle of his shin.

"All right, boys, let's get that map and get back to base. Roll out!" Hot Shot declared, and transformed into sports car mode. Wingsaber assumed the form of an A-10 Warthog airplane, Jetfire his cargo plane, Scattershot his tank mode, Red Alert his ambulance mode, and Vector Prime as an ancient Cybertronian ship. The Autobots, rejuvenated and fully repaired, sped down the hallway.

_I knew that fool would give the Autobots the advantage._ Starscream thought bitterly, as he sighted the Autobots coming down the hall. He called for a halt and motioned for his soldiers to open fire. Starscream transformed and joined them.

Vector Prime flew up to Starscream, transforming and drawing his sword. "Return my map, villain!" he demanded.

"I think not, old man." Starscream declared, activating his Cyber Key power, blades snapping out.

In an instant, the pair's blades clashed, and both flew apart. They danced through the air, swords slashing at the other's vital parts.

"See you Autobrats got an upgrade! Won't help ya none!" Thundercracker declared, blasting at Wingsaber and Jetfire.

The two aerial Autobots split formation, coming at Thundercracker from the sides. Thundercracker transformed and soared upward, then looped around and fired a brace of missiles at Jetfire.

The green Autobot barrel rolled away, and Wingsaber U-turned in midair. "I can do that too!" Wingsaber shouted, launching his own brace of missiles at Thundercracker.

Thundercracker dodged those missiles and accelerated at Wingsaber, launching his missiles at point blank.

The missiles struck home, sending Wingsaber spiraling to the ground. Thundercracker transformed. "That'll learn ya." His joy was interrupted by a large green cargo plane smashing into his frame. Thundercracker dropped a few meters, then recovered.

"And that'll learn ya to pay attention!" Jetfire mocked, coming around to strafe Thundercracker.

Hot Shot's fist smashed into Megastorm's face. The green tank dropped and swept his leg underneath Hot Shot's, knocking the Autobot to the floor. Megastorm got up and loomed over Hot Shot. "Looks like I'll be getting a kill today." He said, smiling.

Hot Shot aimed his proton blasters into Megastorm's abdomen and fired, searing the mech. Something ruptured, causing Megastorm's abdomen to explode outward, felling the Decepticon.

"Not today, pal." Hot Shot said, rising to his feet and aiming at the next Decepticon.

Starscream's and Vector Prime's swords clashed, bringing their faces very close together. "I want my map, Starscream. Without it, we cannot save the universe from Unicron!"

"I was going to do that, you old fool! You had the Autobots come rescue you and interfered with my plans!" Starscream shot back, flinging Vector Prime away.

Vector Prime recovered. "You would have used the power of Primus for your own ends! I will not allow that!" Vector Prime lunged.

Starscream dodged the lunge easily. "You'll never get it. It's still in Darkmount, and the fortress is now impenetrable! And you will all die here!"

Vector Prime prepared to lunge again, when Scattershot called his name. He looked down to see the Autobots were being overwhelmed. He looked back at Starscream. "You will not use the power of Primus for your twisted ends. I will see to that." Vector Prime soared downward and opened a warp gate. The Autobots quickly retreated through it.


End file.
